


The end of our voyage

by Danae_Coffee



Category: Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: Brotp, Confessions, Conversations, F/M, Feelings, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Gen, Late Night Conversations
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-02
Updated: 2020-07-02
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:00:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25032103
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Danae_Coffee/pseuds/Danae_Coffee
Summary: Voyager has almost reached Earth. It's the last night aboard the starship and Ayala pays a visit to his old Captain wanting to put some sense into him. Soon, they start talking about Captain Janeway...It's basically a brOTP and Ayala is the real hero here.
Relationships: Ayala & Chakotay (Star Trek), Chakotay & Kathryn Janeway, Chakotay/Kathryn Janeway, Chakotay/Seven of Nine
Comments: 37
Kudos: 69





	The end of our voyage

**Author's Note:**

  * For [angrywarrior69](https://archiveofourown.org/users/angrywarrior69/gifts).



> I'd like to thank TransScribe, LibraryOfNeith and aluminumphosphorus for their beta and their encouragement. <3

Nobody thought that _Voyager_ would reach Earth so soon. A month ago, even a week earlier, Home seemed like an uncatchable dream to everyone. The crew of the starship _Voyager_ was travelling in space for seven long years and their goal to return to Earth didn’t seem any closer. Most of the crewmen, especially the most conscientious ones, knew well and had accepted the fact that the chances weren’t on their side.

It was the last night they’d spend aboard the ship. That meant that everyone had their very own thoughts. After the crewmen celebrated in the mess hall and shared drinks and wishes for a good life, everyone went to their own quarters in order to pack their personal things and get a good night’s rest.

Chakotay was in the living area of his quarters when the door chime rang. He stopped dead in his tracks, holding a plain black shirt, and looked towards the door in bewilderment. Who could it be, so late in the night? Surely it wasn’t Seven. She should have been regenerating by now, he thought. Also, she had clarified she would meet him the next morning at 0745 hours for precisely 15 minutes before both of them had to report for duty.

Kathryn? Chakotay dismissed that thought as well against his inner will. Much to his dismay, he felt disappointed knowing it wouldn’t be her who was outside his door. How he’d love to see her. Although, Kathryn would probably be busy packing her belongings and reading through the last reports. She was always busy anyway, wasn’t she? Besides, they had been distanced lately for various reasons and surely his affair with Seven of Nine was one of them – or at least it wasn’t helping the situation. Chakotay was finding himself spending way more time with Seven instead of Kathryn. She was smart enough to realize he was distancing himself, so her invitations to dinners had become obviously less frequent. Chakotay briefly stared at the small box that sat on the wooden table in the middle of the room. The door chime rang again, interrupting his musings.

“Come in,” he murmured, still lost in his thoughts and when the door opened, he saw Mike Ayala.

The other man stepped inside hesitantly. He was far from used to paying visits to his old Captain’s quarters. Mike was out of uniform, wearing a grey Starfleet issue shirt and a pair of dark blue trousers. He looked nervous. Chakotay threw the shirt he was holding on the couch and gave his old crew-member and friend a warm smile. He reached out his hand and Mike shook it, more formally than he intended to, still feeling anxious.

“I hope I’m not bothering you, boss,” he murmured, breaking the silence.

Chakotay shook his head. “Not really. I’m just packing.”

Ayala looked around. “I see.”

He could see that Chakotay had already packed most of his belongings. The walls around them looked naked without any artwork or decorations and Chakotay’s personal things were nowhere to be seen. Ayala observed that only a small box sat on the coffee table. It looked so odd without anything else around it. He wondered briefly if Chakotay had forgotten to pack it.

“Don’t forget that,” Ayala said nonchalantly gesturing with one hand toward it and observed, to his surprise, that Chakotay’s smile fell a little.

“I won’t,” he answered in a steady voice. “So, what about you?” he asked in an attempt to change the subject. “Have you finished packing?”

Mike shrugged. “I think so. I didn’t have much stuff around anyway. A few books, some family photos, my Maquis clothes…”

Chakotay raised an eyebrow.

“I hope you didn’t forget to pack your vest.”

Mike scoffed. “Of course not, boss. It’s the first thing I packed. How could I even survive on Earth without this vest?”

They laughed. Chakotay sighed and looked around nervously, wondering if there was something else that he hadn’t packed.

“What about the box?” Mike asked again.

“I don’t think I’ll pack this,” Chakotay murmured.

Ayala’s eyes narrowed as he looked back at his old Captain.

“It must be something important.”

Chakotay shrugged. “I guess it is. It’s a gift.”

“A gift?” Mike repeated.

Chakotay nodded. Mike looked at him intently, waiting for him to continue.

“It’s a ring.”

“A ring?” Mike asked trying to hide both his amusement and curiosity, “What kind of ring?”

Chakotay let out a sigh.

“It’s a big story.”

“Well… I don’t have to be anywhere else right now. You can talk to me.”

“So… do you remember when the Captain and I were stranded on New Earth for a while?’’

Mike scoffed. “Of course?! Everyone does.”

Chakotay ignored Ayala’s comment and he continued.

“I had found a gemstone on the planet back then. It’s really an unusual one. Well... Kathryn and I… hadn’t seen anything like this before. Its color… it changes sometimes. I’ve realized that it has something to do with the feelings of the person who holds it at the time. Kathryn was so… excited about it. She really liked that gemstone and I asked her to keep it. She insisted on me keeping it though because I was the one who found it… and you know her. She’s so stubborn, you can’t convince her otherwise when she has made a decision. So, I kept this stone and later I managed to carve it into a ring. Now…I don’t know if it’s a beautiful ring, but… it’s unique. ”

Ayala seemed taken aback. That was a very interesting story and a ring could mean so many things. It could be a gesture of love or even a proposal. He had been close enough to Chakotay for many years to know that his old Captain didn’t take these things lightly. Ayala knew that Chakotay would never ignore the symbolic meaning of giving a ring to a woman, so he needed to clarify something given recent events.

“Is it for Seven of Nine?” he asked incredulously, failing to hide his annoyance.

Chakotay raised his eyebrows in surprise and disbelief as if that was impossible.

“No, it’s not. How could I even offer something that has to do with New Earth to Seven?” he muttered in a strangled voice.

Mike took a few steps backwards, feeling embarrassed.

“I didn’t mean…” Then, he sighed. “I’m sorry, Boss. You rarely talk about your thoughts or your feelings and surely… you never talk about New Earth.”

Chakotay shrugged. “You are right, but I haven’t been used to opening up about things…or situations…that matter too much to me,” he managed to say.

Ayala nodded. “I see.”

A long silence followed, till Chakotay spoke again.

“You know what? To the hell with that, Mike.”

“To the hell with… what exactly?”

“It’s our last night aboard this ship, so let’s just talk.”

“Great!” Mike responded and smiled widely, “I’m all ears, boss.”

“The ring is for Kathryn. I made it with her in mind.”

Then Ayala scoffed and fell on the couch.

“All right, enough is enough. We’re going to have a good talk _right_ _now_!”

Chakotay looked at him in bewilderment.

“Good talk?” he repeated, “are you going to give me your advice?” he asked, a little sarcastically.

“Sit down, boss. You’re going to listen to me,” Ayala insisted.

Chakotay narrowed his eyes as he looked at him.

“Did you visit me for a particular reason?”

“For starters, I came here because I just wanted to see you. I mean… it’s our last night aboard. Tomorrow everything will be different for everyone. But also…yes. I wanted to talk to you about something.”

Chakotay looked at him curiously as he sat down across from him.

“What is it? If you have any worries about how the Maquis will be treated…”

Ayala shook his head, interrupting him, and snorted.

“It’s not that. I’m sure we’ll be fine as long as Captain Janeway supports us.”

Chakotay’s eyes lit up. “Do you really believe that?”

Ayala raised an eyebrow. “Don’t you?”

“I do, but not all the Maquis share the same opinion.”

Ayala snickered. “I am not all the Maquis. Besides, it’s been 7 long years since we got stranded in the Delta Quadrant. Everything has changed. I mean… _we_ have changed. We’re not the same people anymore and you know it, boss.”

Chakotay nodded. “You are right. Everyone has changed a lot,” he answered thoughtfully “So, do you really trust our Captain?”

“Of course I trust her,” Ayala exclaimed, “She has proven her worth many times.”

Chakotay smiled softly and almost tenderly.

“She can achieve anything, right?” he inquired in an almost dreamy way.

“I believe so,” he answered simply, trying to ignore Chakotay’s expression that made him feel somewhat uncomfortable.

Chakotay laughed mildly. “Her future-self led us home. I still…can’t comprehend it.”

“So… are you really going to give the ring to the Captain or will the box be packed eventually?”

Chakotay looked at the box thoughtfully.

“I’ve been waiting for… so many years to offer it to her and the truth is that I could wait many more.”

“But… it’s about time, right?”

Chakotay shrugged. “I think so. We’re still alive. We’re home.”

“It must have a special meaning for you,” Ayala observed.

“Yes… at least, it used to have. I’m not sure anymore,” Chakotay admitted.

“It’s a ring, boss,” Ayala pointed out, “It’s not that simple.”

Chakotay laughed nervously. “I know, but it’s not like it sounds,” he assured him quickly.

“Are you sure? Cause you look like it’s exactly as it sounds. Are you going to propose to her or something?”

Chakotay snorted. “You can be sure that I’m not going to make a proposal,” he retorted and his voice broke slightly.

“Because you don’t want to or because you can’t?” Ayala asked and raised an eyebrow.

Chakotay narrowed his eyes. “What kind of question is that, now?”

Ayala shrugged. “A simple one.”

“Mike, she is my… best friend. I value her. I value our friendship.”

Ayala scoffed. “But you love her, don’t you?”

Chakotay sighed wearily. “Of course I love her. She’s my friend,” Chakotay repeated, “We’ve been friends for years.”

“This is not what I meant,” Ayala answered sarcastically, “and you know it.”

“What do you mean, then?” Chakotay asked, starting to feel irritated.

Ayala took a deep breath. “You two have never been… just friends. Everyone can see that. Maybe you’re not very good at hiding your feelings or it’s just… you know… Maquis can observe things.”

“What do you want, Ayala?” Chakotay hissed.

 _“Woah,”_ Mike thought, _“back to last-name basis.”_

“I’m trying to help and save you. Your life and your sanity,” he answered simply and sat more comfortably on the couch.

“Save _me_? From what?” Chakotay asked incredulously.

“From your fucking self, Chakotay. Are you really going to leave Voyager without talking with the Captain about the way you feel for her?”

“What?”

“Please, don’t get offended but it’s about damn time, boss.”

Chakotay groaned as if in pain and hid his face in his hands. “Mike, you have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Does she know how you feel, then?” he insisted.

Chakotay took a deep breath trying to collect his thoughts. “No,” he finally muttered, “Because she doesn’t care to know. She never wanted to know. That makes all the difference.”

Ayala snorted. “Stop acting like a brainless man for a moment, can you?”

Chakotay raised an eyebrow. “You’re suddenly a little aggressive, don’t you think?” he asked ironically.

“I’m aggressive because you fucked things up with Seven of Nine.”

“What Seven has to do with it?” Chakotay inquired defensively.

“Boss, someone has to talk to you about it and I decided to be the one. The others don’t want to discuss it with you but honestly, we all think the same. Seven has everything to do with the fact that the Captain and you have been so estranged lately! You’re in a relationship with her,” Ayala exclaimed.

“Ok, wait! We’ve been on a few dates. That doesn’t mean that we’re in a relationship,” Chakotay corrected him.

Ayala sighed. “What’s the Captain’s opinion on this? Do you think that she would consider it a relationship or not?” he asked sarcastically.

Chakotay sat still and ran his hand through his hair nervously. “She doesn’t know about it,” he muttered under his breath.

Ayala smiled wryly. “You don’t really believe that. You can’t be serious.”

Chakotay raised an eyebrow. “If I didn’t believe it I wouldn’t say it,” he answered bitterly.

“I am sure that Janeway knows about it. She’s not naïve, Chakotay. _Of course_ she knows it. Everyone can see that your behavior has changed towards her and Janeway knows both Seven and you a little too much.”

Chakotay sighed. “She’d better not. I’d prefer her to hear the news from me first and not from some random crewman,” he admitted.

Ayala shook his head in disappointment. “That’s all you got to say? Are you in love with Seven?”

“No,” the older man answered without thinking, “I’m not.”

Ayala sighed in relief. “Thank God. At least you haven’t lost your mind… completely.”

Chakotay snorted and stood up. Then, he headed to the replicator.

“I barely know her, Ayala,” he called, “I mean… we’ve been aboard the same ship for years but I don’t really know her. We’d never been very close, you know…”

“I know, do _you_ know?” Ayala muttered through his teeth.

“What did you say?” Chakotay called out again from the other room.

“I said nothing. What are you doing in there anyway?”

“It’s time for a drink,” Chakotay replied, pretending to be cheerful as he returned to the living area holding a bottle of wine and two glasses.

“Synthenol,” Ayala exclaimed with fake enthusiasm. “Is it supposed to help us forget?”

Chakotay laughed as he poured the glasses. “No, but we can always pretend that it’ll help us to.”

“What happened to your Antarian cider anyway?” Ayala asked, amused, as he took the first sip of his drink.

“That is for special occasions,” Chakotay said as he took a sip too. “I probably would’ve opened a bottle for us tonight, but pretty much everything has already been packed.”

“Special occasions,” Mike repeated. “So, are you talking about the Captain again? Have you shared many bottles with her?” he asked, a little teasingly.

Chakotay groaned with frustration. “What do you want me to say, Mike?” he exclaimed. “Did you come here just to listen to me admitting my feelings for her?”

“Well, that wouldn’t be bad. Are you in love with her, boss?”

“I am, yes,” he admitted.

“See? That wasn’t hard.”

“Maybe it was. Mike, I have no idea how I’ll be able to continue my life from now on without seeing her and being by her side every single day. That’s the truth. Are you happy now that you know it, my old crewman?”

Ayala smiled like the cat that got the cream, then cleared his throat.

“I didn’t want to hear anything in particular, boss. I didn’t need any proof. I know how you feel about her, I’ve known for years. Your confession didn’t even surprise me. I just can’t understand what you’re trying to do with Seven. You’re not in love with her, as you said. So, what? Are you just passing time or are you planning to have a family with her despite the fact that you don’t have any strong romantic feelings for her?”

Chakotay sighed as Ayala filled their glasses again.

“I don’t have any big plans for us. She’s just a good distraction. Seven is a remarkable young woman and…”

“Is she in love with you?” Ayala interrupted him.

Chakotay shrugged. “I don’t think so. I believe that she mostly wanted my help, so she could experiment with her social skills. She finds me… acceptable. Maybe appropriate? You know… actually, she asked me earlier tonight to stop seeing each other,” he said in a low voice looking at his glass.

Ayala raised an eyebrow. “How so?”

Chakotay made a face and knocked back the rest of his drink.

“The Admiral warned her that something terrible will happen if we continue to see each other. I don’t really know. It seems that something really awful happened between us in her own timeline,” he said coldly.

“And how did you react?” Ayala asked feeling suddenly curious.

Chakotay laughed a sharp, bitter laugh. “I’m not going to stop seeing Seven just because of what Janeway said. I don’t want to let Kathryn control my life and my decisions anymore,” he replied decisively.

“It was _Admiral_ Janeway who said these things,” Ayala corrected, “It wasn’t our Captain. You know that, right?”

“Temporal Mechanics,” Chakotay murmured.

“Pretty frustrating, right?” Ayala said and smirked trying to lighten the mood.

Chakotay didn’t say anything and for a few moments they just sat in silence sipping their drinks. After a few minutes, his shoulders relaxed and he burst out laughing. Ayala looked at him, curious.

“Kathryn can’t stand temporal mechanics. She just can’t understand them! You must see her harangue about them. Her face is priceless…”

Ayala laughed softly, but after a few seconds his face sobered again. “I guess it’s not easy for anyone to get visited by their future self. How does she feel? Is she okay?”

Chakotay’s eyes widened slightly. “Oh, damn.”

“What?” Ayala asked in bewilderment, glaring at him. “I think that I just ruined the mood.”

“It’s just… I have no idea how she is. I don’t… really know how she feels. We haven’t talked properly in…weeks,” he said in a strangled voice as the realization hit him.

Mike sighed in frustration. “Boss, we’ve known each other for years and you know how much I respect you… but you can be so stupid sometimes.”

Chakotay blinked a few times in surprise. “Thank you, Ayala,” he answered coldly, “Although, I could live without your insults,” he continued in a stern voice.

Mike sighed. “It’s not that I want to offend you, boss, but I’m trying to talk some sense into you. All these things… shouldn’t happen. Everything feels so wrong! You should be with the Captain instead of Seven now that we’ve reached the Alpha. You should’ve stood by _her_ side when we saw Earth again after all this time.”

Then, Chakotay stood up abruptly and started pacing around the room. “You said that I can be stupid, Ayala but I’m not completely an idiot. Of course I understand it. Yeah, I know it’s not right. It’s far from it.”

Chakotay turned and gave Ayala a stern glare. Mike was watching him.

“Boss, I didn’t mean to offend you…” he started to say but Chakotay interrupted him tiredly.

“It’s been 7 long years, Mike. Long and strange.”

Ayala sighed. “I know. I’ve been here too, you know,” he murmured a little sarcastically and Chakotay couldn’t help but smile softly.

“You’re right. It’s just…” Then, he paused and closed his eyes for a few seconds trying to collect his thoughts once again. “I always thought that things would be entirely different when our journey would finally end,” he admitted in a low voice.

“So, you thought… that you and the Captain… would have come to an understanding by now?”

Chakotay shrugged. “I really believed we’d be together at this exact moment,” he muttered and looked out the viewport at the stars.

“Maybe she hoped for the same,” Ayala replied, seriously.

Chakotay shook his head. “I know I let her down but it’s not that simple. It’s not that I’m trying to excuse myself, but…”

“But you’re kind of trying to,” Ayala interrupted him, raising his eyebrows pointedly.

“She and I… we’re not as we used to be anymore. Everything seems so different now… and she’s different. I’m different too.”

Ayala laughed bitterly. “We have all changed, boss,” he said sternly. “Damn it, I mean… I have no idea how I’ll react when I see my family again after all these years – or what my family’s reaction will be for that matter. Nothing is the same anymore, Chakotay, but it makes sense. We went through some tough years.”

Chakotay nodded. “It’s not that simple though. You don’t know the nature of our relationship.”

“Then tell me,” Ayala exclaimed. “It’s damn obvious that you want to talk about it. I don’t understand why you’re holding back so much.”

“I’m holding back, because it frustrates the hell out of me that she doesn’t open up to me anymore. Mike, Kathryn used to talk to me about…everything. I’ve been her closest friend all these years. She could be real with me – more open, tenderer, more… Kathryn. Nobody on this ship has seen her like I’ve seen her – not even Tuvok… or Seven… despite the fact that they’ve been so close in the past years.”

“Let me get something straight; are you competing against your girlfriend for who’s closer to the Captain?”

Chakotay made a face, unable to hide his annoyance. “Are you serious now?”

“Are you, boss? Because I think you’re forgetting something, even though I do accept what you’re saying.”

The older man seemed curious now. “How so?”

“I insist that we went through some hard years. So many things have happened. Her responsibility toward us, her crew, is huge. Then… we experienced some hard losses. The Captain has been struggling and I believe that’s why she grew apart from you at some point. Your behavior didn’t help the situation. She’s not the only one and you’re not the only one. I mean… so many of us have been struggling. It’d be almost funny that there’s no real counsellor on this ship, if it wasn’t so fucked up.”

“I know,” Chakotay exclaimed, “I know how she feels and I’ve been trying to help her. This year though… has just been so bad. We’ve barely met each other off-duty. We’ve barely discussed anything other than work. The truth is… that even I… I can’t cross the barriers she has erected. Not anymore. It’s funny how we used to have a great time together and how we’ve lost our spark now. I don’t know what to do anymore.”

Ayala sighed as he sat down on the couch casually once again. “Do you think that you’ve tried hard enough?” he asked him simply.

Chakotay took a deep breath. “What?” he managed to say.

“I’m asking you,” Ayala insisted, “Do you think that you’ve tried enough? Have you done your best? I mean… you love her. You should try for the best! Instead… of just ruining what you had, it’s obvious that you two have to move forward together, so you can find your spark again. So you can find yourselves again.”

Chakotay avoided his gaze, looking at the floor. Then he shook his head slowly.

“I didn’t try hard enough. I could have done much more but Kathryn…” Then, he paused and cleared his throat nervously before continuing hesitantly. “Well, let’s say that it’s not easy for someone to approach her when she doesn’t want to be approached.”

Ayala sighed and poured himself one more drink. “I guess that your behavior changed too, at some point,” Mike pointed out.

Chakotay looked at him, feeling irritated. He wasn’t sure he needed this conversation that night. Damn it, it was his last night aboard Voyager – the last night that he would sleep so close to Kathryn, even with a wall separating them. Everything would be different in the morning and he had no idea how his life would be from now on; how _her_ life would be from now on- without her loyal first officer by her side.

“Yes, Mike,” he answered eventually, “my behavior changed but I am not sure that I regret that. Maybe I _had_ to change. I owed it to myself.”

“What do you mean now?”

“Just tell me this; how long are we supposed to love someone… when apparently they don’t reciprocate the feeling?”

Mike snorted. “Do you really think that the Captain has no feelings for you so you have to harden towards her?” he asked in disbelief. “What has happened to you, boss?”

Chakotay shrugged. “How can I be sure? Especially after what happened on Quarra…”

“Chakotay, you can’t tell how she feels for you based on how she acted when she was brainwashed.” Then, the younger man sighed in frustration and stood up. “Enough,” he exclaimed, “go and find her!”

The older man was taken aback.

“What?”

“Go and find her, Chakotay. Talk to her! Talk to her about all these things you’ve talked to me in the past hour. Let her know what you think and what you feel for her. It’s not that hard. All you have to do is to be finally open with each other… like you used to be and like you were with me just now. Oh, and give the damn ring to her for God’s sake!”

Chakotay stood up as well and started pacing the room. The he stopped in his tracks and ran a hand through his hair as he looked again at Ayala. Many thoughts were racing through his mind. He knew well Mike wanted the best for him, but he made everything look extremely simple – and unfortunately, he had the tendency to forget, or to ignore, one certain human being.

“And Seven?”

Mike looked perplexed for a few seconds. “What about her?”

Chakotay groaned without trying to hide his disappointment.

“You don’t have to like her, but still… this isn’t an excuse for you to be rude.”

Ayala shook his head. “Ah no, you misunderstood. It’s not about if I like Seven or not…but you did say yourself that you two just went on a few dates and that’s it. Come on, Chakotay… How serious can things get after a few dates?! Plus, she’s Borg. She’ll adapt.”

Chakotay made a face. Sometimes his old crewman was really unbearable.

“What?! Too harsh? Boss… what I mean is…that Seven will be just fine even without you. At least, that’s what I think. She’ll be more than able to adapt. I don’t mean to be rude… but don’t you think she deserves something better anyway? Someone who truly loves her? You’re kind of wasting her time right now.”

The older man looked thoughtful for a few minutes. He let his friend’s words sink into him, filling him with the truth of the situation. Finally, he let out a sigh before he decided to respond.

“I should have a honest conversation with Kathryn – and then with Seven. We all deserve better; and… Kathryn and I don’t have to end like this, right?”

“You ain’t wrong. You two deserve to be together, Chakotay. Seven deserves to explore her life on Earth, to find out what she likes and what she doesn’t. Anything else seems too unfair and too wrong.”

Chakotay, instead of answering, began pacing the room, finding it hard to concentrate or make decisions. Although, he knew, more or less, what he needed to do in order to fix this irrational situation and move forward with his life having Kathryn by his side. He had to let Seven move forward too.

“I hope Seven will understand,” Chakotay murmured, more to himself than to his friend.

Ayala’s disbelief was more than obvious. “Now… do you really think that Seven has no idea what’s going on between you and the Captain?”

The other man stopped dead in his tracks and shrugged his shoulders. “Well, she probably does.”

Mike approached him, put his hands on his friend’s shoulders and shook him gently by them.

“Boss, get it together! Go to the Captain, she’s probably still awake…”

“I’m sure she is,” Chakotay interrupted him.

Ayala nodded. “Awesome. Then talk to her and solve things.”

“Fine!” Chakotay responded decisively. “I’ll go and find her tonight. I will talk to Seven tomorrow.”

“What about the ring?” Ayala asked, mainly out of curiosity. “Are you going to give it to her tonight?”

Chakotay looked thoughtfully at the box, still standing on the coffee table. Then a confident smile lit his face, making him look more alive than Ayala had seen him in months.

“Yes. Earth is visible on our viewports. I can’t think of a more appropriate moment to offer it to her.”

Ayala gave a nod to him and smiled knowingly. “Always a romantic. I knew that.”

Chakotay laughed heartily.

“Thank you for tonight, Mike. It’s nice to have good friends – friends who’ll show you the right path even in the hard way.”

Mike shrugged as he got ready to leave Chakotay’s quarters.

“Anytime, boss. I have your back.”

Chakotay laughed heartily as he headed to his bedroom. He had a visit to pay pretty soon.

**Author's Note:**

> For angrywarrior69, the Ayala of my heart.


End file.
